by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
![Chloe and me in downtown Matthews[6]](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-RBfE3PJnr2M/TvymFwzlP4I/AAAAAAAADhY/cGh83oNCrT0/s1600-h/Chloe%252520and%252520me%252520in%252520downtown%252520Matthews%25255B6%25255D%25255B2%25255D.jpg "Chloe and me in downtown Matthews[6]")
I’ve talked to writers before who just don’t get why I write small town settings.
“But it really limits what you can do!” and “Does anything really ever happen in small towns?” are the two comments I usually get when the topic comes up.
I’ve found, though, that it’s not limiting because a lot does happen in small towns. I grew up in one and still remember some of the shocking, soap-opera-like stories I’d overhear the grownups whispering over. You’ve never known drama until you’ve lived in a small town.
Small towns are full of secrets: When everyone knows everyone else, you feel the need to hide things that you don’t want the whole town knowing about. Realizing there’s a character with a secret and having a protagonist work to unearth it leads to natural suspense.
Small towns can set the stage for conflict: Feelings run deep in a small community because perceived slights seem personal.
Isolation: Small towns can seem, or actually be, remote. If you’re writing a book where the characters need to either feel or really be cut off from the rest of the world, a small town setting can really add that element to your story. Want Wi-Fi? Good luck.
Replicating a small town feel in a larger town setting:
I also write stories set in larger locations—no one would call Memphis a small town. But I try to replicate that small-town feel in other ways:
Limited setting: The story’s action centers around a central location with limited other scene settings. Just get rid of your wide angle lens and the panoramic city shots in your story and pull the shot in.
Presence of family and connectivity: Gathering around food, conversations in rocking chairs on porches, etc.
Recurring series characters who are warm and engaging for readers.
Do you enjoy reading or writing stories based in small town settings? What particular elements of this setting have you found interesting to work with or read?
I love reading books set in small towns. I moved around a lot and never got to feel that sense of belonging that people who live in the same area seem to have. So I guess I like it because I get to see what living that kind of life would be like.
Elizabeth – I know just exactly what you mean about the appeal of a small town. I think it’s a terrific setting for developing characters and relationships. Depending on what the author wants, a small town can give one that eerie feeling claustrophobia, or a warm feeling of conviviality that gets shattered… or a lot of other things. What I think a small-town setting allows is a lens on the lives of the people who live there.
Hi Elizabeth – so much can happen within a community .. and exactly as you say small towns can have it all – but communities within a larger town/city .. can have all those elements too.
I love the detective stories set in small villages here or the larger theatre of Oxford – perhaps because I know it a little having schooled and colleged (not University type college!) there for 11 years or so ..
I like your idea of having the whit to contract and expand your settings for the actions going on .. that opens other doors too ..
Thanks – have a very good 2012 .. cheers Hilary
Since I grew up in a small town (500 people at that time), I know what you mean…
Now I live in rural setting and love to use it as my back drop. Which doesn’t mean I can’t dip my character into the city once in a while!
I’ll take the small town setting over city as backdrop for any book I might read, or write as I can more relate to it.
Good post as always!
~Lorelei
The project I’m just finishing is set in a small town. I loved writing it. I based the location on a real town, but after I kept changing things I renamed it.
I’d think the intimacy of a small town would be perfect for a mystery.
I shake my head over that reaction. I understand if someone just doesn’t like small town culture or atmosphere — but to say it’s limiting?
That’s the greatest tool in a creative person’s tool chest — scope. Drama comes from being creative around boundaries. Think of all the great stories that come from stage plays. Think of all the great “big city” stories which are enhanced by limiting the scope to a single room or building. (“Wait Until Dark” Heck, “Die Hard.”)
And for mysteries… think of all the murders on a train, or an isolated house. Nero Wolfe’s town house.
Limits are downright necessary for any creative work. Getting around limits is what creativity IS.
My current book takes place in a small town. My favorite part about writing it was the town gossips and how everyone knew everyone business, or at least thought they did.
Carol
Krista–It’s kind of an interesting sociological study. Most of the times it’s a very close-knit, protective feeling. Of course, as a teenager, I was eager to get away! But it’s a great place to grow up, I think.
Hilary–Good point. So even suburbs or neighborhoods of larger communities.
Oh, I love mysteries set in Oxford! Some of my favorites..Inspector Morse books, etc…are set there.
Lorelei–I think a lot of readers relate to it. And the ones who don’t relate can feel like they’ve gone on a relaxing vacation.
Alex–I love it for cozy mysteries, especially.
Margot–I’ve never played with the claustrophobic effect of one, but I think that would be interesting. Putting a really cosmopolitan person in a small town. Could be fun!
Carol–I had to change the name of the two small towns that I write about…it’s just easier that way. :)
The Daring Novelist–That’s what blows my mind! But I think a lot of people think “boring.” I’m thinking it’s because small towns don’t have the venues that larger ones do…the shows, the events, etc. But the excitement is there–just on a more micro level. Great points about limiting scope in other ways…even to a locked room. :) I love those mysteries.
I do enjoy stories set in small towns – probably stemming from my early love of Agatha Christie and James Herriott – both fabulous writers! :)
I grew up in a small town, love to read stories set in small communities and to write about them as well. I’m sure there are just as many quirky characters, secrets and plots in a city, but they seem to pack more punch for me if they are set in a small town.
I do enjoy books set in small towns. I grew up in a small town. The visual I have is that a big town is like a large pot of broth and a small town is a more condensed pot of vegetable soup. They’re both soup, but the small one often has more flavor
I love small towns. When traveling in my home state of Illinois, I’ll often take the long way just to see the old architecture and the small businesses that populate them. Sad that there are fewer of them now to see…
When we write, we all “narrow” the community we write about out of necessity. Just the people in the tower or just the people in the ship or just the people in the village. It allows us to focus, just like in real life, on the ones most important to us.
I grew up in a village (I don’t think it even deserves to be called a small town since it didn’t have any of the things towns have! such as a cinema or a sensible range of shops) and I agree regarding secrets. Keeping secrets was more or less a way of life! Especially if they were embarrassing or might make someone stand out from their neighbours.
I must admit to getting away from the village as soon as I got the chance, although I now live in a suburb of Edinburgh which is very much like a small town with its own community activities etc.
I like to write about small towns, especially if writing mysteries, and I don’t feel at all limited by the size of the setting. If anything, it makes things easier as anything new will cause more of a stir! It’s fun to write about the same characters too.
I’m thinking of the master, Agatha Christie, and how she used that small community setting and isolation to her advantage. I’ve been told the midwestern setting is too quiet. Guess I’m the one to prove “them” wrong.
I think for mysteries small towns are FABULOUS. There is a lot more credible gossip chain and people knowing stuff they maybe wouldn’t in a broader setting. I like small towns for women’s fiction, too because the relationships seem a lot easier to explore when someone is sort of stuck with what they have. In a city, it is harder to defend a character not just walking away and doing something different, but if you give them a compelling reason to be stuck in a small town, they HAVE to cope with what is there.
One of my favorite things about a good book, especially a cozy/amateur sleuth, is the setting of a small town where I’d like to live if I could.
I think that even if you write a book set in a large city, the action can happen in a neighborhood, which is exactly like a small town with the same things going on, being hidden, etc just like a small town.
Carol–The gossips are perfect for stirring up trouble and for making people wonder if they’re telling the truth or not!
Jemi-2 of my favorite writers!
Helen–I like that analogy!
Charlotte–Small towns’ quirky residents are sort of forced to interact with everyone in the town…in a city, I think, there’s a little more anonymity for the quirky. :)
Sheila–Exactly! Because if the whole town knew your embarrassing secret, then you *know* they’re thinking about it every time they look at you…for the next 50 years!
Mary–I think that’s even better–a midwestern setting with a shocking event or secret. It comes as more of a surprise!
John–Right! Too many people sort of waters down the setting and book, too…and makes it confusing, to boot.
Hart–Good point! When you’ve always lived in a small town, it’s hard to imagine leaving it…the residents develop more coping mechanisms to face the problems head-on.
YES! I absolutely love writing – and reading – mysteries set in small towns, villages or totally remote settings.
Probably because I grew up in a ´village´, a place with c twenty houses.
Happy New Year, Elizabeth, and thank you for your support and your brilliant blog!
Count me in as a lover of small town mystery settings too! I grew up in a village then moved to a small town for 12 years. Trust me, a lot of drama and “stories” to be told! ;)
By the way, Elizabeth, I really love your blog. You provide such good information. Thank you!